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Re: [F_minor] Under thirty crowd?

Miranda, thanks for sharing your thoughts so honestly. They could be mine as well, and I'm 66. I've loved Gould ever since high school, consider myself extremely musical and musically educated, and yet - it's obvious that there are some real scholars and musicians on this list who can talk about the same things we F-minor members love the way a surgeon can operate on a brain that we all admire. More power to them!

Unless you have innate musical genius, don't worry too much about acquiring expertise that simply resides in those who have been fortunate enough - favored by god, if you ewill - to contain, communicate and re-shape such knowledge. The uniqueness of your input - current and future - will most likely be something beyond your control anyway, something that expresses the interaction between you, your particular life and the Glenn Gould Phenomenon. It may require writing skills. It may show unique perspective. It may be completely off-the-wall. It may be almost worshipful - of the music and of the scholarship that extends the range and power of music. It may be just a loud "me too!"

I think that the people in this group love Gould whether they want to or not: that's kind of the main qualification. We felt "called" by Gould - by his performances, his insights, his writings, his conversations, his radio shows, his presence, his humor, his brilliance, his tragic vision of perfection, his beauty - soon after we first encountered him. There's no real explaining it, there's just many ways of celebrating it. Many times I've also felt shy about expressing musical preferences or ideas to this group because they didn't sound sophisticated enough. No doubt there are others of us - all of us with our own specialized skills and knowledge and musical needs and instincts and prejudices - and we try to share out happiness by continuing to speak as we do, in the church of "F-_minor". We are all equal under the eyes of Gould (I hope.)

My advice to you is to listen to as much Gould as you can (when you want to), listen to other great performers, listen to all the music that pleases you regardless of what it's called, think about what it touches in you, and tell us about it. Or tell someone else. And if you're into education, read, read more, take a course, go to lectures, go to live concerts, surf the web (with its infinitely growing online musical resources), and even try making some music. As someone who's tried many times to make music, I can guarantee that it's absolutely the best way to appreciate how hard it is to do!

Before I go, let me just plug a non-Gould, non-piano, non-classical concert in NYC next week. the annual Winter Solstice concert produced by the Paul Winter Consort and held in the gigantic space of St. John's Cathedral on W. 111th St. It's one of the greatest acoustic musical events in the world, approaching its 30th year, and is as close to experiencing the religion of music as you're likely to find outside hearing the choir at the Mormon Tabernacle, evensong in Christ Church Oxford, or Messiaen played on the organ of St. Sulpice (all part of my hedonistic past).

Paul Wiener

At 04:02 PM 12/9/2008, Miranda Carnessale wrote:
I started subscribing to this mailing list a few years back because as a young Glenn Gould fan with an amateur music background and no real friends who have the same passion for Gould or even classical music in general, I wanted to be part of a group who could at least in writing pass on some knowledge and insight on the life and work of this fascinating man. I don't really know any of you who are the main participants on this forum, but it seems that you may possibly have a few years on me just in the manner you articulate your ideas. I often feel I would like to contribute my opinion on some of these threads, but worry my response would appear naïve or unintelligent. My real concern I think at this point is, as one of Glenn Gould's biggest fans in the under-thirty age group, is if I, as well as the seemingly anonymous crowd of youngsters who also have a passion for Gould, don't make an effort to demand to be mentored by those who have perhaps had ties and first hand experience with him, fifty years from now the musical styling of this 20th century artist could fall out of the radar of even the minority of the public. My question is, what steps do I take in order to help carry on the legacy of my ever-favorite hero?

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